Reactive Oxygen Species: A Key Constituent in Cancer Survival

By Seema Kumari, A. Badana, M. G, Shailender G, Ramarao Malla. Biomarker Insights, 2018

662 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Background: Cancer is one of the major heterogeneous disease with high morbidity and mortality with poor prognosis. Elevated levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), alteration in redox balance, and deregulated redox signaling are common hallmarks of cancer progression and resistance to treatment. Mitochondria contribute mainly in the generation of ROS during oxidative phosphorylation. Elevated levels of ROS have been detected in cancers cells due to high metabolic activity, cellular signaling, peroxisomal activity, mitochondrial dysfunction, activation of oncogene, and increased enzymatic activity of oxidases, cyclooxygenases, lipoxygenases, and thymidine phosphorylases. Cells maintain intracellular homeostasis by developing an immense antioxidant system including catalase, superoxide dismutase, and glutathione peroxidase. Besides these enzymes exist an important antioxidant glutathione and transcription factor Nrf2 which contribute in balancing oxidative stress. Reactive oxygen species–mediated signaling pathways activate pro-oncogenic signaling which eases in cancer progression, angiogenesis, and survival. Concomitantly, to maintain ROS homeostasis and evade cancer cell death, an increased level of antioxidant capacity is associated with cancer cells. Conclusions: This review focuses the role of ROS in cancer survival pathways and importance of targeting the ROS signal involved in cancer development, which is a new strategy in cancer treatment.

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/951ce362090b31b5cbae99ec14a4cfd43a5bfa69

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Citations in the corpus

• ROS Generation and Antioxidant Defense Systems in Normal and Malignant Cells (2019, background): “ROS have a dual role in cancer development; on one hand, they can promote molecular genetic alterations that are necessary for tumor initiation, growth, and progression, as well as acquisition of treatment resistance [8].”
• Role of Reactive Oxygen Species in Cancer Progression: Molecular Mechanisms and Recent Advancements (2019, background): “They may be separated into three classes—endogenous antioxidants (bilirubin, catalase (CAT), ferritin, SOD, glutathione, coenzyme Q, l-carnitine, alpha lipoic acid, glutathione peroxidase (GPx), melatonin, etallothionein, thioredoxins, peroxiredoxins, and uric acid), natural antioxidants (ascorbic a”